Field of the Invention
The present invention is a method for detecting. More specifically, the present invention is a method for detecting amyloid beta plaques and drusen.
Description of the Related Art
Drusen are early fundus changes characteristic of age-related maculopathy. Early detection of maculopathy and also Alzheimer's disease with amyloid beta or AB plaques is vitally important to early intervention and treatment. Conventional fundus photography is widely utilized in imaging and detecting drusen. There currently is no method for AB plaque detection except with the utilization of specialized dye and other contrast agents.
Optical coherence tomography or OCT is also an imaging technique that is utilized whereby retinal structures may be viewed in cross-section. Relatively larger drusen are visible in OCT images as elevations of retinal pigment epithelium or RPE. The utilization of infrared imaging is much more comfortable and advantageous in elderly patients with lens opacities, since light is scattered relatively much less in the presence of media opacities. Retro-mode imaging in a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope or SLO is utilized to image the retina with an infrared laser. It is based on indirect mode imaging of a SLO.